I had a fabulous weekend in the country and for the second year in a row, helped host a BIG July 4th party at my friend's house and later experienced Peter Schjeldahl's fireworks display. Photos of the weekend will be posted.

The photos of me, Jeff, Greg, and Rick were taken at a cafe on Sullivan Street a block from Rick's apartment. We had time to kill before the reading so enjoyed the lovely weather by having a few drinks.

The other photos were either taken in the cafe of McNally Jackson or at a restaurant some of us went to after the readings.

The one person missing from these photos is Nan Fry, who was sitting with friends when I took these photos in the shop's cafe and didn't join us for dinner afterward. But she did a lovely job reading her poem.

One last reminder for anyone in the New York area, that Monday June 7th there will be readings from The Beastly Bride at McNally Jackson book store. I'll be introducing the following contributors, who will be reading and signing books:Carol EmshwillerSteve BermanRichard BowesJeffrey FordGregory FrostNan FryMary Youmans

This amazing line-up of some of our city's best fantasists is coming together to read from their contributions to the latest in acclaimed editors Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow's ongoing series of anthologies about mythological themes. The latest, The Beastly Bride, is full of stories about selkies and nagas and were-creatures of all scales and stripes. The list of contributors to this anthology is a veritable who's who of the greatest fantasy writers in the field today, alongside some surprising impressive newcomers.

Ellen Datlow was editor of the sadly extinct SCI FICTION, the prize-grabbing online online fiction portion of scifi.com. She was also fiction editor of OMNI. Science fiction magazines love their capital letters. Datlow is a tireless anthologist and has won seven World Fantasy Awards, two Bram Stoker Awards, three Hugo Awards, five Locus Awards, and the International Horror Guild Award for her work.For more information:

Also, Colleen Mondor is enjoying The Beastly Bride and will be reviewing it in her column Chasing Ray in July. In the meantime she says: "Standouts so far: "Map of Seventeen" by Christopher Barzak, "Island Lake" by E. Catherine Tobler and "The Hikikomori" by Hiromi Goto."